Metaplanet, Semler Scientific were ‘zombie companies’ until Bitcoin, execs say

Executives at Metaplanet and Semler Scientific say MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin playbook inspired them to follow suit and emerge from “zombie” status this y— while their share prices have soared.

“We were hearing Michael Saylor talk about zombie companies, and we realized we were probably one of those companies because we were not getting any love in the stock market, our stock was not performing well, and we were still very cash-rich,” Semler Scientific’s chairman Eric Semsler explained at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville on July 25.

Zombie companies earn just enough to continue operating and service debts but have no excess capital to spur growth and are often close to insolvency.

Semler said it convinced him to follow the Bitcoin playbook orchestrated by MicroStrategy’s chairman, Michael Saylor. 

“We just decided as a board that this was the best use of our cash.”

Semler Scientific’s share price has risen 40% since its first Bitcoin purchase on May 28, eventhough it is currently down 3.6% on its Bitcoin investment, Bitcoin Treasuries shows.

Metaplanet’s CEO Simon Gerovich said his firm was also beginning to show characteristics of a zombie company before fully embracing Bitcoin.

“[I was] cleaning up the balance sheet, getting rid of staff, paying down debt and effectively putting us in a position where I think Michael [Saylor] would call us a zombie company looking for a business,” Gerovich recalled from his early struggles at Metaplanet.

But the Japanese investment company eventually “realized” that Bitcoin could strengthen its balance sheet while reducing its exposure to the fast-depreciating Japanese yen:

“We realized that Bitcoin is the apex monetary asset [and] something great for our treasury to have… we then made it our stated goal to own and to purchase as much Bitcoin as we can over time.”

Metaplanet is also slightly down on its Bitcoin investment since its first purchase on April 23, but the company’s stock price has risen an eye-popping 980% since then.

Both Semler Scientific and Metaplanet said they’re embracing the extreme volatility that comes with Bitcoin adoption too.

“It’s a completely different shareholder base than what we had before [and] the heavy volume creates opportunities,” Semler said.

Semler is hopeful the increased liquidity could lead toward Semsler’s stock being traded in the options market in the near future, while Gerovich hopes it will soon allow Metaplanet to offer a convert issuance.

The road wouldn’t have been as smooth had it not been for MicroStrategy and Saylor, Gerovich added.

“Credit is due to MicroStrategy for really paving the way over the past four years. It’s been very inspiring. If it wasn’t for the work that’s been done, I think it would be more difficult for corporations around the world now to follow.”